Officials from North Korea and South Korea have met to confirm how they will work together for next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games in a landmark collaboration.

Olympic and government officials, along with sports ministers, met at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Switzerland on Saturday.

The session aimed to build on a breakthrough agreement reached on Wednesday at their shared border and iron out details of the unprecedented pact.

Olympic and government officials from North Korea and South Korea met at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Switzerland on Saturday to discuss how they will work together for next month's Pyeongchang Winter Games in a landmark collaboration

North and South Korea have been talking since last week - for the first time in more than two years - about the Olympics.

The countries have been pressing ahead with a flurry of projects since North Korean leader Kim Jong-un abruptly said in a New Year's speech that he was willing to send a delegation to the games in the South.

It has offered a respite from a months-long standoff over the North's missile and nuclear programmes, which it conducts in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

On Wednesday the countries agreed to march together under a Korean unification flag in the February 9 opening ceremony.

And the IOC has approved the countries' desire to field a united women's ice hockey team.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

It would be the first time both Korean Olympic committees compete in a single team.

The North has said it will send a 550-member delegation to the Games, as well as 230 cheerleaders to back athletes from both Koreas.

A separate 150-member delegation of supporters, athletes, journalists and others will also be sent to the Paralympics in March.

North Korea has taken part in seven of the last 12 Winter Olympics, most recently in Vancouver 2010.

North and South Korea have been talking since last week - for the first time in more than two years - about the Olympics

But its presence in Pyeongchang - just 50 miles south of the demilitarised zone that divides the Koreas - is a significant diplomatic coup.

The International Olympic Committee now has to sign off on the terms agreed by Seoul and Pyongyang - and try to implement them without tarnishing Olympic rules.

President of the IOC Thomas Bach said all parties, including the Pyeongchang organizing committee, held '12 hours of talks and negotiations' on Friday - and it has been suggested 'more exciting initiatives' will be cooked up in the talks.

The following day he appeared before cameras with North Korea's sports minister Kim Il Guk and the South's minister of culture, sports and tourism Do Jong-hwan, with the three exchanging wide smiles and handshakes.

However, the organisation has admitted the intra-Korean deal has made its job more complicated.

'There are many considerations with regard to the impact of these proposals on the other participating (nations) and athletes', an IOC spokesman said this week.

No North Koreans are technically qualified for Pyeongchang and the country has only won two medals in the history of the Winter Games, in 1964 and 1992.

The IOC have suggested 'more exciting initiatives' will be cooked up in the talks between the two countries. In Switzerland, President of the IOC Thomas Bach greeted North Korea's sports minister Kim Il Guk (left) and the South's minister of culture, sports and tourism Do Jong-hwan (right)

And some have raised concerns about allowing two nations to field a joint women's hockey team.

'The participation of a united Korean team is a good idea politically and diplomatically, but when it comes to fairness in sport it raises some questions,' said Swiss ice hockey federation spokesman Janos Kick.

There is precedent for fielding a joint team in international competition, including at the 1991 football under-20 World Cup, when the two Koreas competed together and even advanced to the quarter finals.

The IOC has said it wants to be 'as flexible as possible' in maximising North Korean participation at the 2018 Games and has opened the door to some of the country's speed-skaters and skiers competing.

A further complication for Seoul and the IOC is ensuring that while accommodating the North and ensuring that the so-called 'peace Olympics' pass off smoothly, neither violates United Nations sanctions.

Security Council measures currently in force prohibit cash transfers to the North, while the UN has also drawn up a blacklist of officials tied to the Stalinist Pyongyang regime, individuals whose presence at the Games will create potential stumbling blocks.

It remains to be seen whether the Olympic movement will play a key role in easing tensions between the two nations still technically at war.